President Bill Clinton announced the recipients of the 7th annual Clinton Global Citizen Awards, where he, former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Clinton Foundation Vice Chair Chelsea Clinton, and a newly announced lineup, including Vice President Joe Biden, will honor seven people from the public, private and non-profit sectors for their vision and leadership in addressing global problems.
Available online in October, the awards will be presented in a special ceremony on Wednesday, September 25 during the Clinton Global Initiative Annual Meeting in New York City, where more than 1,000 top business, government, and civil society leaders will convene to address some of the world’s most pressing challenges.
2013 Clinton Global Citizen Award honorees include 16-year-old Malala Yousafzai, who, after being shot by the Taliban less than a year ago for her outspoken support for girls’ education, has co-founded the Malala Fund to continue advocating for universal access to education. For his efforts in the areas of health and the environment, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg will receive an award for leading the city’s response to Hurricane Sandy.
In addition to Vice President Biden, Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan; Nicholas Kristof, columnist, The New York Times; Mary Robinson, former president of Ireland and president, Mary Robinson Foundation for Climate Justice; and M. Sanjayan, lead scientist, The Nature Conservancy are slated to make appearances.
The awards show will also feature performances by The Roots, Elvis Costello, Malian musician Fatoumata Diawara, and the musical producer Randy Jackson.
Each year, honorees are nominated by the CGI community based on their visionary leadership, demonstrated impact, and sustainable and scalable work in solving global issues. The 2013 Clinton Global Citizen Award recipients include the following outstanding leaders from government, civil society, the private sector, and philanthropy:
- Leadership in Public Service
Michael R. Bloomberg, Mayor, City of New York
Michael R. Bloomberg was elected the 108th mayor of the City of New York in 2001. He began his career in 1966 at Salomon Brothers, and after being let go in 1981, he began Bloomberg LP, a startup financial news and information company that now has more than 15,000 employees around the world. As mayor, Bloomberg has cut crime by 35 percent, revitalized the waterfront, implemented ambitious public health strategies, including the successful ban on smoking in restaurants and bars, and expanded support for arts and culture. His education reforms have driven graduation rates up by more than 40 percent since 2005. The Mayor’s economic policies have helped New York City avoid the level of job losses that many other cities experienced during the national recession. In fact, New York City has gained back more than 260 percent of the jobs lost during the national recession, and even surpassed the previous record for the number of private-sector jobs, which had been set in 1969. Mayor Bloomberg attended Johns Hopkins University and Harvard Business School, and is the father of two daughters, Emma and Georgina.
- Leadership in Civil Society
Malala Yousafzai, Campaigner for Girls’ Rights, The Malala Fund
Malala Yousafzai, an educational campaigner from Swat Valley, Pakistan, came into the public eye by writing for BBC Urdu about life under the Taliban. Under the pen name Gul Makai, Yousafzai often discussed her family’s fight for girls’ education in her community. In October 2012, Yousafzai was targeted by the Taliban and shot in the head as she was returning from school on a bus. However, she miraculously survived and continues her campaign for education. In recognition of her courage and advocacy, Yousafzai was honored with the National Peace Prize in Pakistan in 2011 and nominated for the International Children’s Peace Prize in the same year. The youngest person to be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, Yousafzai was shortlisted for TIME magazine’s Person of the Year and has received numerous other honors. She continues to champion universal access to education through The Malala Fund, a nonprofit organization investing in community-based education programs in disadvantaged communities.
Elias Taban, National Bishop, Evangelical Presbyterian Church of South Sudan and Uganda
Elias Taban, a former child soldier, grew up during Sudan’s civil wars. Despite great hardships, Taban was educated in Africa, receiving diplomas in civil engineering and theology, but returned to Sudan to pastor devastated churches. His courage and selfless efforts saved many lives, and after the war, Taban became known throughout South Sudan as he built schools, orphanages, and hospitals in the region. He and his wife adopted four orphans and currently oversee three orphanages. In addition to leading the Sudan Evangelical Alliance, he organized Tent Makers International to help with challenging construction and transportation needs. Taban also partnered with Water is Basic and became its general director, leading efforts to drill 433 water wells while also providing employment for citizens devastated by the war. He continues to lead peace negotiations among the tribes and provides aid and education for those internally displaced by the tribal violence.
Bunker Roy, Founder, The Barefoot College
Bunker Roy is the founder of the Barefoot College, which has been providing solutions to problems in rural communities for more than 40 years. The Barefoot Approach is a proven community-based model, providing basic infrastructure for power and water in remote, rural areas, as part of an integrated solution to alleviating global poverty. The Barefoot model of community-owned, managed, and financially sustained household solar light systems is today replicated in more than 54 countries, empowering more than 600 Women Barefoot Solar Engineers and providing clean energy access to 450,000 people in nearly 1,650 communities throughout India, Africa, Latin America, the Pacific, and Asia. As a result of Barefoot’s work, one million litres of rainwater have been harvested to provide clean drinking water to over 239,000 school children in more than 1,300 communities worldwide. Roy has been named one of the 50 environmentalists who could save the planet by the Guardian and one of the 100 most influential people in the world by TIME magazine.
- Leadership in the Private Sector
Jessamyn W. Rodriguez, Founder and CEO, Hot Bread Kitchen
Jessamyn Waldman is the founder and CEO of the award-winning Hot Bread Kitchen—a nonprofit bakery often referred to as the “United Nations of Bread.” Since 2008, Waldman has grown the organization from a visionary idea to a thriving workforce development program that blends business and social outcomes. Through this work, Hot Bread Kitchen has become a nationally recognized brand that is sold in over 50 outlets, including Wholefoods and Dean and Deluca, and it’s business model has been recognized by Echoing Green, the Eileen Fisher Company, and the Social Venture Network’s Innovator Award. Before starting Hot Bread Kitchen, Waldman worked around the world in NGOs, government, and the United Nations, focusing on human rights, education, and immigration issues. Waldman holds a Master in Public Administration from Columbia University. In addition, she has a Master Baker certificate from the New School University and was the first woman to be hired as a baker at Chef Daniel Boulud’s renowned restaurant Daniel.
Adam Lowry, Co-Founder and Chief Greenskeeper
Eric Ryan, Co-Founder, Method Products PBC
Adam and Eric make soap. Really nice smelling soap that’s non-toxic and good for the planet. In 2000, Adam Lowry and Eric Ryan co-founded Method Products, the leading innovator in stylish and sustainable personal and home care products. Today, Method has over 100 planet-friendly products in stores across North America, Europe, Australia, and Asia. Method has been ranked #7 on the Inc 500, and #16 on Fast Company’s list of the world’s 50 most innovative companies. As chief greenskeeper at Method, Lowry focuses on bringing sustainable innovations to the Method business through product design, sourcing, production, and marketing. Ryan is the design and marketing side of the duo, working as chief brand architect to leverage Method’s creativity to create a new generation of environmentally-conscious consumers. He has been named an eco-leader by Vanity Fair, a Food & Wine Tastemaker, an eco-revolutionary by Time Magazine, and PETA’s Person of the Year. Lowry and Ryan both reside in San Francisco, California.
